Harriet Dart has achieved a new milestone by making it to her first WTA Tour semi-final at the Transylvania Open.
The third-ranked British player has extended her winning streak to five matches in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. She breezed through qualifying and easily defeated Spain’s Nuria Párrizas Díaz with a score of 6-3, 6-2.
Dart had previously lost four quarter-finals on the Tour, all at British grass-court events. However, the 27-year-old is now guaranteed to rank in the top 100 next week and will surpass Jodie Burrage as the British No. 2 if she continues to advance. Despite losing her first service game, Dart dominated the match by finding the perfect balance between aggression and consistency, quickly taking a 4-1 lead. She continued her strong performance in the second set, jumping ahead 3-0, while Párrizas Díaz’s higher number of errors ultimately led to her downfall.
Dart expressed her enthusiasm for continuing their match. She acknowledged that neither of them played their best tennis and attributed it to nerves.
“I was pleased that I persevered, remained composed, and was able to secure the close games and crucial moments.”
Emma Raducanu has received a special invitation to participate in the Qatar Open and will compete against Anhelina Kalinina in the initial stage. The previous US Open winner shared that she had been aiming to compete in Doha after being defeated by Ons Jabeur in the second round of the WTA Tour in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
She has been granted her wish and the 21-year-old will start her campaign against 32nd-ranked Ukrainian Kalinina next week. She has won three out of six matches since her return from an eight-month break.
They have played once before, on the clay courts of Madrid in 2022, with Kalinina winning a close contest in three sets. The winner of the match will take on big-hitting eighth seed Jelena Ostapenko, who has already won two titles this season.
The Qatar tournament, which is the first WTA 1000 event of the season, features top-level players such as Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff, who are returning to play after their participation in the Australian Open. However, the winner of the Melbourne tournament, Aryna Sabalenka, will not be competing in this event.
